Why Is Health Insurance Important For Small Business

With so many start-ups and small businesses emerging in India, many people have started establishing their own business. Still, with growing competition, it is difficult to sustain competition in the market. As a business grows, so does the number of employees. A health insurance plan plays a huge role to demonstrate your company's financial status as well as employee satisfaction. Not only is it an employer's responsibility to take care of their employees but also helps them ease their minds in case of medical or accidental emergencies.

It is important to have lucrative employee benefit programs that can attract good team-mates and help retain them. For this, offering them a robust health insurance plan is one of the best perks. A comprehensive health insurance plan provides employees with a sense of security and also helps your company with a dedicated workforce. It also protects your employees from the dangers of a financial crisis in case of any mishap or accident.

Why Is A Group Health Insurance Plan Important For Your Small Business?

Employees are every company's assets; a corporate health insurance not only lures good employees but also plays a crucial role in making them a part of the family that your small business is. Here are a few benefits of providing your team with a group health insurance plan:

• Motivates Employees: With so many competitors and cut-throat competition in the market, it is hard to retain employees without good benefits. A sturdy group mediclaim cover not only motivates them but also helps with their retention in long term.
• Reduces Financial Strains: A comprehensive health insurance plan protects both the employee as well as the employer from any unprecedented losses incurred due to sudden sickness, accidents, death, etc.
• Tax-saving Benefits: Providing a health insurance plan to your employees will also provide you tax benefits as per government policies.
• Affordable Premium:Because of the increased number of people, the group plans offer more coverage at less cost and are very affordable even if you go for customized plans or add-on covers.
• Cover for Pre-existing Diseases:Unlike most individual plans, group covers provide benefits for any pre-existing diseases of the employees.
• Maternity and Infant-care Benefits:In case if the employees are under maternity period, they can avail of many medical benefits and reimbursement of expenses related to mother and child care along with other benefits.
• Extensive Coverage: Because of a large group of people with varying requirements, these plans not only cover just pre-existing diseases but also a large range of diseases that are otherwise not covered by individual plans.

How To Pick a Group Health Insurance: Tips for Small Business

With all said and done, it is very important to choose the best health insurance plans for your employees. This way, they can avail of uninterrupted medical care for proper treatment for any risk that they or their families may face. As a small business owner, it becomes a huge responsibility for you to provide your team a healthcare plan that actually provides benefits. Here are some important tips to keep in mind before buying an insurance plan:

• Compare Policies First:Before deciding upon the policy that you feel is good, make sure you have compared it with a lot of different plans that are available in the market. Carefully check each policy's features and coverage benefits offered by the insurer and finally, the price of the policies. You can also compare various policies on Policybazaar before deciding upon the plan for your business.
• Ensure Maximum Coverage:Buying for a group means there are different kinds of people with different risks. Hence, it's essential for you to buy as many coverage options as possible. You can also buy policies that provide a minimum benefit of a fixed sum. This way, your employees will have reimbursement options for a lot of medical expenses.
• Double-check Policy Terms:There are many conditions and exceptions in any policy and they all differ from each other in many ways. Make sure to go through them and pick a policy after properly checking their terms. This will ensure that it will not be very difficult for your team to claim reimbursements and other benefits when the time comes.
• Check their Network Hospitals:With so many companies asking their employees to work from home, it is possible that your team members come from different parts of India. Hence, go for an insurance provider which has a huge network of hospitals and local branches. This will ensure that your employees can quickly avail themselves of the facilities during medical emergencies without any delay in case of emergencies.
• Watch out for the Exclusions:Probably the most important point which any buyer should consider. Make sure that you first check the terms under which their claims would not be accepted. You should carefully understand these exceptional conditions/cases so that your employees can be aware of any such situation that may not be claimable.
• Check for Sub-limits: In case the insured exceeds the set sub-limit on a certain thing like room rent or bed, then they will need to pay the remaining cost on their own. Hence, it is better to opt for group insurance plans who have either higher or no sub-limits.

To conclude,

As per IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India), a small business with as little as twenty employee strength can avail of a group health insurance policy. In the case of a smaller workforce, you can also consider plans that cover their dependents to improve their financial strains. It will help your employees to be mentally at peace because of the financial assistance that may be required in case of any emergency. This works well not just for them but also for their family. It will also make your business a good workplace and help establish a strong company culture in the long run.